Morgand’s silk-screen illustrations are lively and colorful, but ambiguities and mistakes seriously detract from the value...
All kinds of animals are eagerly taking part in an Olympics-style athletic competition in this French import.
Numbers counting up from one to 20 and back down from 20 to one are shown, one Arabic numeral plus simple text on each page. Each animal is portrayed doing what they do best: The big cats jump over “3 hurdles” while running between “4 white lines”; the kangaroo does the high jump (landing on “5 crash mats”); the seals do gymnastics (using “7 rings”); and “8 monkeys” bounce on a trampoline. A bear lifts “9 weights”; crocodiles swim in a pool marked by “13 white lane floats” and “14 red lane floats”; a fox plays tennis (accessorized with “16 spare sweatbands”). Onlookers wear “17 pairs of sunglasses” and eat “18 tubs of popcorn” (one elephant does without shades). No. 19 (a ball-playing rabbit) is injured, and the cat referee calls a 20-minute break. Counting down is similarly handled. Whereas many books in this genre illustrate the number of items represented by the number, this book sometimes uses abstract concepts: “2 blows on the whistle,” and “a perfect score! 10”; 19 is given similarly short shrift (represented twice by the bunny’s jersey number). More seriously, there are some miscounts, notably “3 hurdles” (there appear to be five) and “17 empty water bottles” (there are 18).
Morgand’s silk-screen illustrations are lively and colorful, but ambiguities and mistakes seriously detract from the value of this book as an educational tool. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: May 22, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-500-65154-4
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
It’s a bit hard to dance, or count, to this beat.
Dinos that love to move and groove get children counting from one to 10—and perhaps moving to the beat.
Beginning with a solo bop by a female dino (she has eyelashes, doncha know), the dinosaur dance party begins. Each turn of the page adds another dino and a change in the dance genre: waltz, country line dancing, disco, limbo, square dancing, hip-hop, and swing. As the party would be incomplete without the moonwalk, the T. Rex does the honors…and once they are beyond their initial panic at his appearance, the onlookers cheer wildly. The repeated refrain on each spread allows for audience participation, though it doesn’t easily trip off the tongue: “They hear a swish. / What’s this? / One more? / One more dino on the floor.” Some of the prehistoric beasts are easily identifiable—pterodactyl, ankylosaurus, triceratops—but others will be known only to the dino-obsessed; none are identified, other than T-Rex. Packed spreads filled with psychedelically colored dinos sporting blocks of color, stripes, or polka dots (and infectious looks of joy) make identification even more difficult, to say nothing of counting them. Indeed, this fails as a counting primer: there are extra animals (and sometimes a grumpy T-Rex) in the backgrounds, and the next dino to join the party pokes its head into the frame on the page before. Besides all that, most kids won’t get the dance references.
It’s a bit hard to dance, or count, to this beat. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: March 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8075-1598-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
Animated and educational.
A hare and a ground squirrel banter about the differences between related animals that are often confused for one another.
Jack is “no Flopsy, Mopsy, or Cottontail,” but a “H-A-R-E, hare!” Like sheep and goats, or turtles and tortoises, rabbits and hares may look similar, but hares are bigger, their fur changes color in the winter, and they are born with their eyes wide open. As the ground squirrel (not to be mistaken for a chipmunk (even though Jack cheekily calls it “Chippie”) and Jack engage in playful discussion about animals, a sneaky coyote prowls after them through the Sonoran Desert. This picture book conveys the full narrative in spirited, speech-bubbled dialogue set on expressive illustrations of talking animals. Dark outlines around the characters make their shapes pop against the softly blended colors of the desert backgrounds. Snappy back-and-forth paired with repetition and occasional rhyme enhances the story’s appeal as a read-aloud. As the story progresses, the colors of the sky shift from dawn to dusk, providing subtle, visual bookends for the narrative. One page of backmatter offers a quick guide to eight easily confused pairs, and a second turns a subsequent exploration of the book into a seek-and-find of 15 creatures (and one dessert) hidden in the desert. Unfortunately, while most of the creatures from the seek-and-find appear in poses that match the illustrations in the challenge, not all of them are consistently represented. (This book was reviewed digitally with 7-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 53.3% of actual size.)
Animated and educational. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-358-12506-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
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